temple israel dedication program 2013

Dedication • Friday, October 11, 2013

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4 Temple Israel Dedication • Friday, October 11, 2013

Letters from our Clergy and President

Welcome Home!

E VERY ADULT MEMBER IS a member by choice in the fellowship of the Jewish people. There are six hundred thirteen opportunities for Jewish self-expression. All of them are dif-ferent and equally meaningful touchstones with the heritage of what it has always meant to

be a committed Jew, whatever the time or place. The role of the professional staff in the exercise is to assist the individual in his or her own search by placing before the members, with patience and encouragement, the widest possible range of options of observance and participation.

A synagogue means more than just a building: it is a place where friends are met and food is shared; where births and marriages and growing up are celebrated, and deaths are mourned; it is the classroom where we study and teach; it is the extended family whom we feed and clothe; it is the home we design and decorate and beautify. It is more than building and grounds. It is first and foremost people, people to whom we are related by the myriad of shared expe-riences; people with whom we laugh and weep, labor and play, worship and dream.

Decide for yourself, what kind of synagogue you would establish were you now called upon to create it from scratch. The fact is, in a very real way, the very same decisions which had to be made 142 years ago are being made again now. You are here, right now, at the beginning, so choose your own route from the dozens of paths before you. It’s all possible—it’s all before us!

RABBI ARYEH AZRIEL

Dear Temple Israel,

C ARRIE AND I ARE honored to be a part of this community at such an import-ant time in our history. Watching the enthusiasm, generosity, and pure, loving kindness of this community as our new synagogue came to fruition brought to mind

a passage from Exodus that I hope speaks to our experience together in our new home.

Exodus 25:8

`~k’(AtB. yTiÞn>k;v’w> vD”+q.mi yliÞ Wf[‘îwAnd let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.

It has been a joy to watch you pour your heart and soul into this vision. From generous donations to countless hours of volunteers, this community has done the work described in the book of Exodus. Now, I pray, that as this work continues and we begin to experience our lives in this new space, that we find that this home we built brings a sense of the divine into our lives. The mikdash, the tabernacle we have created, will be filled with meaningful moments from the beginning of life to the end. It will hold our tears and our joys. It will be a shalom bayit, a home that embodies every understanding of the word shalom.

Thank you for welcoming our family into this journey. We look forward to the many ele-vated moments we will have together, in the hallways, on the bimah and across a table filled with the texts of our tradition. Most importantly, we look forward to the many times your spirit will bring a sense of the holy into our Temple.

RABBI JOSH BROWN

5Temple Israel Dedication • Friday, October 11, 2013

Letters from our Clergy and President

Dear Congregants,

W ELCOME TO OUR NEW location! The Temple Israel choir, Kol Rina, our accompanist Julie Sandene, our First Friday Band and I hope that you will enjoy the music that will and can be offered in our worship spaces.

Many hours of discussion went into the sanctuary and chapel design, and much of this was devoted to acoustics, amplification and space. In particular, we now have ample space for choir and instruments. We can be flexible with placement of the various musical com-ponents of worship. Additionally, we can host music groups such as chamber orchestras, soloists and bands, as we have recording capability and a first-rate Steinway grand piano, donated in honor of Florence and George Eisenberg by their children and grandchildren.

In the chapel we have the opportunity for more intimate services and other music offerings. In this room, too, we have been gifted a lovely Story and Clark grand piano by Marcia and Jack Cohen, Julie Rochman and Sandra Palmer. We are blessed to have these and other generous supporters of the music at Temple Israel.

I wish you all a blessed New Year, good health and an abundance of music in your lives.

L’shalom.

CANTOR WENDY SHERMET

Dear Congregants,

O N BEHALF OF THE Board of Trustees, it is my great privilege to welcome you to the dedication of our beautiful new synagogue. Years of plan-ning and countless hours of hard work by so many of you have brought

us to the fruition of this dream—a new home for Reform Judaism in Omaha, Nebraska. We are so blessed to have leaders with the vision to create this build-ing and the generosity to spend their time and treasure to make it a reality!

Thanks to the support of so many of you, we were able to build this build-ing with no mortgage and increase our endowment to provide for its upkeep and maintenance. We are very grateful to all of you for your support and we know that your investment will reap benefits for generations to come.

So now the real task begins; we as a congregation must work together to create a community worthy of our beautiful new surroundings; an inspiring and embrac-ing Jewish community for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren. We can do it, we must do it, and I know that together we will do it! The entire Board of Trustees joins me in thanking you for the privilege of leading Temple Israel during this exciting time in our history. We look forward to hearing your thoughts and your feedback! Shana Tovah, a healthy and happy New Year to all of you!

SALLY KAPLAN, PRESIDENT

Congregation of Temple Israel Board of Trustees 2013-2014

Sally KaplanJon MeyersAndie GordmanMike HalstedPaul RabinovitzRosie ZweibackMike NortonAlan FredricksJeff SchweidJohn LehrStacie BrodkeySharon Comisar-LangdonJustin CooperMarlen FrostDan GilbertScott GoodmanDanielle GordmanGary KaplanCat KingDan MarburgPaul MillerJeff NoggSusie NortonRob ReissJane RipsSusan RothholzLouri SullivanHannah BudwigRabbi Aryeh AzrielRabbi Josh BrownCantor Wendy ShermetDennis DePorteDebbie MassaranoWendy GoldbergDavid GolbitzNikki Flatowicz

AN EVENING OF CELEBRATION AND SONG

Friday, October 11, 6 p.m.

The Congregation of Temple Israel dedicates its new home at 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive

Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, Rabbi Josh Brown and Cantor Wendy Shermet will lead the service.

SPECIAL GUESTS

Kol Rina and Religious School students and teenagers will perform selected pieces of music.

Kurt Knecht, Music Director at St. Mark’s and Conductor of the Lincoln Lutheran Choir

Karen Sokolof Javitch, a Temple Israel member, songwriter and playwright

Harley Schrager, Chair of the Building Council

AN ONEG WILL FOLLOW THE SERVICE.

RABBI ERIC H. YOFFIE

Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, President Emeritus of the Union for Reform Judaism, led the Reform Movement in exciting new directions, moving congregational life toward greater attention to Torah study and adult literacy. He spearheaded a major expansion of the URJ’s summer camping program. Rabbi Yoffie has been a pio-neer in interfaith relations and launched Movement-wide dialogue programs with both Christians and Muslims.

MAURICE N FINEGOLD

Maurice N Finegold, Finegold Alexander + Associates Principal graduated from Harvard University with an A.B. cum laude, and received his Master of Architecture degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He holds a National Architectural Registration Certificate and is registered in Massachusetts and 15 other states. Mr. Finegold received IFRAA’s prestigious Edward S Frey Award, the highest award given nationally for work in ecclesiastical design, and was elected a Fellow of the Society for Arts, Religion and Contemporary Culture.

CANTOR JONATHAN COMISAR

Cantor Jonathan Comisar studied piano and music theory at Oberlin then was ordained as a Cantor from Hebrew Union College School of Sacred Music. Comisar has served the Community Synagogue of Rye, New York for the past five years. He has premiered orig-inal compositions created a chamber music series, taught numerous classes on the history of Jewish music and directs a children’s choir. Recently Cantor Comisar was chosen to participate as a composer in the prestigious Lehman Engel BMI Musical Theater Workshop.


Temple Israel Dedication • Friday, October 11, 2013

CONGREGATION OF TEMPLE ISRAEL

Senior Rabbi Aryeh Azriel

Rabbi Josh Brown

Cantor Wendy Shermet

Dennis DePorte, Executive Director

Debbie Massarano, Director of Lifelong Learning

Wendy Goldberg, Program Director

Nikki Flatowicz, Director of Youth Engagement

David Golbitz, Staff Writer

Jen Goodman, Religious School Coordinator

Misty Weidner, Office Manager

Vicki Ducharme, Accounting

Cassandra Hicks, Graphic Designer

Lachisha Sherrod, Administrative Assistant

Scott Anderson, Building Supervisor

Clifton Garrett, Maintenance Engineer

EDITORIAL AND DESIGN OF DEDICATION BOOK

Omaha Magazine, LTD, Publisher

Todd Lemke, Publisher

Wendy Goldberg, Editor

Linda Persigehl, Editor

Leo Adam Biga, David Golbitz and

Joe Hack, Contributing Writers

John Gawley, Creative Director

Bill Sitzmann, Director of Photography

Cynthia J. Kohll Photography and

Justin Limoges Photography

Katie Anderson, Senior Graphic Designer

Paul Lukes and Marti Latka, Junior Graphic Designers

Howard Shrier, Committee Chair

Silvia Roffman and Suzanne Singer, Copy Editors

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Clergy

STORY BY LEO ADAM BIGA • PHOTOS BY BILL SITZMANN

Rabbi Aryeh Azriel

R ABBI ARYEH AZRIEL IS known to frankly speak his mind and fearlessly wade into trouble rather than stand silently, idly by. It’s his nature. He and

the dynamic clergy team he leads make a good match for the lively Reform congregation they serve.

“I refuse to sit on the fence in any relationship I encounter,” says Rabbi Azriel. “I like to be part of life and to jump into dangerous, sometimes stormy waters. I definitely want to take a chance. I like those kinds of experiments.”

He feels fortunate having clergy who enjoy the vital push and pull that characterizes life at Temple Israel.

“I’m very proud of the clergy surrounding me. They’re an

amazing fit,” he says, referring to Rabbi Josh Brown and Cantor Wendy Shermet. “We’re not being spectators. We’re about getting in, getting muddy, getting hurt, get-ting in all those amazing places and finding strong, creative ways of entering into people’s lives and relationships.”

According to Past President Jane Rips, “Aryeh, Josh and Wendy all bring different gifts to Temple Israel. They complement and supplement each other and are very different from each other, but that is one of our congregation’s greatest strengths.”

Rabbi Brown says Rabbi Azriel sets the bold course. “He does not like to sit still or slow down or sort of rest on any laurels. It’s always what needs to change next or what do we move towards next.”

Like their predecessors, Rabbi Brown and Cantor Shermet speak their mind and think outside the box. Rabbi Azriel wouldn’t have it any other way.

“We’ve selected professionals who have provided challenges to me individually and also to the congregation,” Rabbi Azriel says. “Free thinkers and innovators with the courage of their convictions.”

The clergy team meets Tuesday mornings to plan their week, but the trio confab informally almost every day.

“I can’t tell you how many times during the day we are in each other’s offices because there are things that have to be discussed and some of them are urgent,” says Rabbi Azriel. >

Temple Israel Dedication • Friday, October 11, 2013 9

Clergy

Rabbi Josh Brown Cantor Wendy Shermet

Rabbis and Cantor

Provide Spiritual Leadership From the Heart

“I find this place extremely caring and

invigorating...It has embraced my family. It has

been a wonderful experience.”

RABBI AZRIEL

< The team divides hospital and nursing home visits. They take turns officiating at life cycle events. And they all play a role providing pastoral care, building relationships, and being in peoples’ lives in their highest and lowest moments, on special occasions but also day-to-day.

Rabbi Brown works closely with new Director of Lifelong Learning Debbie Massarano in developing the K-12 Religious School curriculum, and confers with young families, college students and young adults to build relationships and their connection to the congregation. Cantor Shermet guides the B’nai Mitzvah program and all of the worship music. Rabbi Azriel ensures the team’s teachings and activities enhance Temple Israel’s mission and vision. Azriel also lends his thoughtful input on long-range planning, issues of social justice, and much more. Some might say he has his hand in a little bit of everything.

“It’s not only listening to each other,” Azriel adds, “but listening to the heartbeat of the congregation is crucial, too. If we for a moment forget what the purpose of our work here is, then our work will be in vain.”

The clergy are part of a much larger team.

“It’s more than just the clergy,” Rabbi Azriel says. “You have to have the right youth group director, the right edu-cator, the right executive director, the right program director, the right sup-port staff, the right lay leadership.”

Still, as the senior rabbi of this congregation for 25 years, Azriel has left a huge imprint.

Rips says, “He has challenged us, guided us, loved us, and helped to create a vibrant and exciting Temple Israel.”

“I find this place extremely caring and invigorating,” says Rabbi Azriel. “It has embraced my family. It has been a wonderful experience.” •


Clergy

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T O ENHANCE WORSHIP IN the sacred spaces of its

new synagogue, Temple Israel charged five artists with creating symbolically rich ritual objects embedded in Jewish faith and practice. Each artist met extensively with Temple Israel’s clergy to discuss the religious signifi-cance of the ritual object they were commissioned to make.

An exhaustive process deter-mined where art would be located and what it would convey before a jury iden-tified and commissioned the appropriate artists to create the pieces. The Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts facilitated the process.

The idea was to make art integral to spaces, not mere adornments.

The central ritual object on the bimah is the Aron Hakodesh (Ark), which is the repository of the Torah scrolls. Many syna-gogue Arks are dramatic works of art or craftsmanship in wood or metal, filled with sym-bolic elements representing parts of the Jewish tradition.

At Temple Israel’s request, Israeli resident Galya Rosenfeld created a double-layered Ark curtain. Bemis Community Arts Program Manager Holly Olson describes it this way: “The front layer is an assemblage of laser-cut fabric pieced together in a >

Art and Music

Creative Process Reflects Hopeful,

Inclusive Spirit of Congregation


Art and Music

STORY BY LEO ADAM BIGA • PHOTOS BY BILL SITZMANN AND DAVID GOLBITZ

Ark Curtain Artist Galya Rosenfeld

< repeating Star of David pattern using a color palette referencing Shivat Haminim (the Seven Species named in the Torah). Openings in the center front reveal the back sheer curtain printed with holiday symbols.”

Rosenfeld says the two curtains create an “interplay” and “choreography” for displaying the Ark. She adds that the colors inspired by “the ritual foods we eat and wines we drink” are meant “to connect people with familiar things from their experience of the holidays” and to “exalt our practice of Judaism.”

Another essential element of the sanctuary is the Ner Tamid (Eternal Light) that symbolizes the fire that burned on the altar in the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. Temple Israel selected James Woodfill of Kansas City, Missouri, to design the Eternal Light for the sanctuary. His modular work seamlessly blends into the bimah wall. He says the design “lets the light simply emanate from that wall” as an ambient architectural immer-sion. Rather than imposing a narrative, Olson says the piece “allows for the symbolism to come from the experience.”


Art and Music

“And God called the light Day, and the darkness God called Night. And it was evening

and it was morning, day one.”

Artist James Woodfill’s work Ner Tamid (Eternal Light). Lynne Avadenka’s artwork shares the Hebrew message, “Guard our going and coming, to life and to peace, evermore.”

Woodfill says he intends for his piece to “instigate a new way of feeling or sensing” for worshipers and “to add a layer of potential optimism and reflection.”

Temple Israel’s chapel also has an Eternal Light and another Kansas City artist, Linda Lighton, was inspired by a word cloud congre-gants generated to express what they wanted the chapel’s Eternal Light to evoke. Working from that and motifs in the Ark doors and stained glass windows, she fashioned a translucent porcelain flower. She says, “I hope the members will enjoy and find comfort and solace and inspiration in this light for many years to come.”

In the spirit of Jewish prayer that inspires and instructs worship-ers, artist Lynne Avadenka of Huntington Woods, Michigan, was tasked with bringing Hebrew passages from the Hashkiveinu prayer of peace to graphic life. She executed hand-drawn inter-pretations of excerpts selected by the worship committee. The prayer’s message of renewal, peace and community holds special meaning for the congregation. Her work is displayed in the wrap-around clerestory windows. A repeated passage—“Grant, O God, that we lie down in peace, and raise up, our Guardian, to life renewed. Spread over us the shelter of Your peace.”—can be read inside the sanctuary. Two other passages can be read from the outside, including one that reads: “For You, God, watch over us and deliver us. For You, God, are gracious and merciful.”

Olson says the soft flow of Avadenka’s hand-drawn work offers a pleasing contrast to the clean, sharp lines of the space’s other designs.

“The commission for the Temple comes with a sense of responsi-bility to make sure what I am doing is satisfying the members of Temple [Israel] and their sense of what their sanctuary should be, along with the aesthetic sensibility of the architect,” says Avadenka.

Nashville, Tennessee-based artist Mel Ziegler is preparing an outdoor sculptural piece for the entrance that will invite members and visitors to interact with the work and perhaps add onto it. He’s responding to a Hebrew passage viewable above the entrance that reads, “Guard our going and coming, to life and to peace, evermore.” Ziegler envisions his work

integrated into new traditions at Temple Israel and reflecting the congregation moving forward and embarking on a new path.

In one way or another, the work of Ziegler and his fellow artists all express the vital, searching, engag-ing nature of Temple Israel’s people.

Temple Israel member Todd Simon, a noted art collector who helped lead the commission process, says, “The progressiveness, inclusiveness and open-mindedness” of the congregation ensured that Temple Israel didn’t “go with the safest choices but instead was willing to explore and push around the boundaries.” Simon is pleased by the art that’s been cultivated. “I think we’ve got a terrific balance between totally new art and artists for whom the artistic problem this presented to them was a brand-new chal-lenge to them,” says Simon.

“I love those pieces,” adds Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, who consulted with each artist. “I feel very good about the selection.”

On Simon’s recommenda-tion, the synagogue hired the Bemis Center to manage the process that selected and supported the artists.

“I sort of inserted my point of view that we ought to really be thinking about art from the very beginning and, more importantly, that the art is actually a great way to involve a broader group of the congre-gation in a conversation about what this place is supposed to be about,” says Simon. “The process was designed so that the concepts really came >


Art and Music

Linda Lighton’s

Eternal Light in the Chapel.

Lynne Avadenka’s artwork shares the Hebrew message, “Guard our going and coming, to life and to peace, evermore.”

< from the community the art is supposed to serve. We tried to be as inclusive as we could.”

Between 80 and 100 congregants attended a 2011 workshop. “We asked the congregation to bring to life in words and stories the past, present and future of Temple Israel. What it meant to them on a very personal level,” says Simon. “We noticed certain themes and ideas emerged. We knew where we wanted art to potentially touch the building.” The Bemis then assembled a jury of curators and experts who came up with the artists invited to submit an RFQ (Request for Qualifications). From dozens of submissions, five were selected.

In addition to the art pieces, Temple Israel commissioned a piece of original music for the dedication.

Jonathan Comisar—music director at Congregation Kol Ami in White Plains, New York, and on the faculty of his alma mater, Hebrew Union College School of Sacred Music—writes Jewish music for synagogues and other organizations all over the nation. Comisar was asked by Temple Israel Cantor Wendy Shermet to compose a piece of art music that draws on the Hashkiveinu prayer. His piece, “Hashkiveinu: A Shelter of Peace,” is scored for cantor and choir as well as for violin, cello, clarinet and flute.

“It was a wonderful, challenging task,” says Comisar.

The composer says his goal was to interpret the prayer with “integrity and authenticity—to make this not only fitting for a prayer but fitting for the grandeur of a new synagogue.” At the same time, he says, he needed to create a section chil-dren can sing along, all while also weaving the instruments and cantor’s voice into ‘an organic whole.’ “It’s like a mini-scene from a play in a lovely and beautiful way with all the right intentions. It’s a moment which marks a milestone in the con-gregation’s life, so I was very mindful of the significance...”

Guest artists for the performance will feature Comisar at piano and select Omaha Symphony members.

The other original musical works for the dedication are by organist-composer Kurt Knecht from Lincoln, Nebraska, and songwriter-playwright Karen Sokolof Javitch from Omaha. He is a music director at St. Mark’s on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus and artistic director and con-ductor of the Lincoln Lutheran Choir. She is a member of Temple Israel. Knecht’s piece, “Shalom Aleichem,” is for girls and women. Javitch’s piece, “Noah,” is for children. •


Art and Music

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Congratulations Temple Israel!

GALYA ROSENFELD

When the Israeli resident is not working in her Tel-Aviv studio or teaching in the Department of Jewelry and Fashion at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem, she’s often lecturing and teaching internationally.

Her Judaica creations are crafted in various media, includ-ing textiles, ceramics, wood and glass. Her work has been exhibited around the world, with recent pieces in exhibitions at the Tel-Aviv Museum of Art and the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco.

Her work has been accepted into the permanent collection of the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, commissioned for the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and gifted by Shimon Peres, President of the State of Israel, to the Deutscher Bundestag in Berlin.

JAMES WOODFILL

The Kansas City Art Institute graduate has worked extensively in the public art realm with privately commissioned sculp-tural installations in public spaces, education and curatorial projects, writings and urban planning projects and studies.

His work has shown in solo and group exhibits the world over. He was a Charlotte Street Award winner in 2000 and 2005. He was awarded a studio grant from Reviewfund. The Temple Israel project marks his second experience with an area institution after he served as a visiting assistant professor of experimental mixed media at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2000. He’s taught in various capacities at the KC Art Institute since 1998.

LINDA LIGHTON

Before graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute, Lighton studied and practiced painting and ceramic arts formally and informally. The arts advocate and activist received the Award for Excellence in the Visual Arts and Education from her alma mater in 2011. She’s represented the United States at sym-posiums and residencies around the world. This member of the International Academy of Ceramics has displayed her work in numerous solo and group exhibitions interna-tionally, including the inaugural World Biennial in Korea.

Her work is a part of many national and international collections.

LYNNE AVADENKA

The recipient of individual artist grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Michigan Council on Art and Cultural Affairs, Avadenka was awarded a prestigious Kresge Fellowship in 2009. She was an invited participant in a Factory/Artist Exchange at Bullseye Glass in Portland, Oregon, in 2010. She was an inaugural fellow of the American Academy in Jerusalem in 2011. This year, she’s a visiting fellow for the Humanities Institute at the University of Michigan.

Her widely exhibited work is in the permanent collections of several institutions, including the New York Public Library, the Jewish Museum in New York, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the British Library in London, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

MEL ZIEGLER

One of three Temple Israel-commissioned artists to grad-uate from the Kansas City Art Institute, Ziegler also has a master’s degree from the California Institute of the Arts. He enjoyed a long collaboration with the late Kate Ericson in making site-specific installations and objects. His work with her and alone has shown nationally and internationally.

He received a Loeb Fellowship for study at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University in 1997. A retrospec-tive of his work showed at the Galerie of the Secession in Vienna, Austria, in 2003. In addition to widely exhibiting his creations, he also lectures extensively in the U.S. and abroad.

JONATHAN COMISAR

Comisar studied piano at the Eastman School of Music, where at 17 he won a young artists competition that earned him a piano soloist performance with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. He continued his studies at Oberlin before becoming a student of Pulitzer Prize-winning com-poser David Del Tredici. He’s been a composer participant in the Lehman Engel BMI Musical Theatre Workshop.

The Hebrew Union College of Sacred Music graduate served as cantor at the Community Synagogue in Rye, New York, where he premiered original compositions, created a chamber music series, taught classes on the history of Jewish music, and directed a children’s choir. Today, he’s music director at Congregation Kol Ami in White Plains, New York. He’s a frequent guest com-poser/artist-in-residence at synagogues across North America.

BEMIS CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS

Founded in 1981, the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts quickly became a leading artist community, offering artists-in-residence well-equipped studio spaces, living accommodations and a monthly stipend. The atmosphere and environment offer an ideal situation for creative growth and experimentation, and encourage artists to confront new challenges. The Bemis Center was instrumental in connecting Temple Israel with the artists who created the artwork for the new building’s sacred spaces.


Artists

Profiles of Contributing Artists

T EMPLE ISRAEL AND THE Tri-Faith Initiative of Omaha grounds comprise a lovely but small corner of the 153-acre mixed-use Sterling Ridge development that’s 10 to

12 years from full build-out. Temple Israel and its interfaith partners bring deep currents of history, memory and spirituality that stand apart from the development’s retail and business tenants.

Temple Israel alone carries 142 years of traditions. Congregants will soon be neighbors with members of a mosque and a church and their own long faith traditions, as well as with residents of an assisted living-memory care facility and with employees and customers of various commercial enterprises. All of it affords opportunities to put faith in action.


Sterling Ridge

Sterling Ridge and the Tri-Faith Initiative

An Outcome of Temple Israel’s

Longstanding Inclusivity.

STORY BY LEO ADAM BIGA • PHOTOS BY BILL SITZMANN

“It’s meaningful to have participated in the creation of a vehicle that can enable the fostering of more healthy human interper-sonal relationships,” says Tri-Faith Initiative Board Chair and Temple Israel member Bob Freeman. “Personally I can tell you I’m a better person and Jew for the journey. I’m more connected to God.”

There wouldn’t be a new Temple Israel in the Tri-Faith Initiative venture without the building project leadership team.

Temple Israel member Ted Zetzman is a builder by trade. He and John Waldbaum worked closely with Finegold Alexander + Associates, Charles Vrana and Son Construction Company, and Lockwood Development’s Chip James on delivery of the new synagogue. >

“It’s meaningful to have participated

in the creation of a vehicle that can

enable the fostering of more healthy

human interpersonal relationships.”

BOB FREEMAN


Sterling Ridge

< “What made it have special meaning is that Temple came to me and said, ‘We need your help with this’ and it was something I really knew how to do and could help with,” says Zetzman.

He credits principal architect Maurice Finegold with conceiving the new Temple Israel as a translucent lantern on the prairie. Project Advocates helped find the glass to realize that vision, along with the exterior Jerusalem stone and other materials.

Zetzman says fellow Temple Israel member Harley Schrager, Chair of the Building Council and Co-Chair of the capital and major donor campaigns, “was involved intimately in the concept and setting the standards or objectives for the design from a qualitative standpoint.”

Bound up in coming to the new building is honoring the old building’s rich past.

Rabbi Azriel says Rabbi Josh Brown and Cantor Wendy Shermet “were involved in making sure people were engaged in conversations with the congregants about what exactly would happen with this transition.”

Temple Israel long deliberated whether to move. Once the decision was made, it next had to decide where to relocate.

“It’s a huge risk this congregation took,” says Azriel. “I mean, how do you build something that satisfies everyone? How do you build a home for 800 families?”

“I think the choice of the

location for the synagogue is

an amazing miracle. We went

through 32 different locations

before we got to this one, and

we came to the right place.“

RABBI AZRIEL


Sterling Ridge

Congratulations on the

dedication of the new

TEMPLE ISRAEL

L’dor V’dorL’dor V’dor

Mazel Tov to

Temple Israel on your new home.

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Zetzman says the Temple Israel project and the Tri-Faith Initiative presence make a great fit for Sterling Ridge by giving it the high-profile civic use it needed.

Azriel sees it as providential and ironic that Temple Israel and the Tri-Faith Initiative decided to build on the site of a former Jewish country club that formed in response to Jews being excluded elsewhere.

“I think the choice of the location for the synagogue is an amazing miracle. We went through 32 different locations before we got to this one, and we came to the right place. Once upon a time, Jews were ‘the other,’ but the Jewish community has grown up and been made to feel comfortable in America. So I think we landed in a wonderful moment in the life of a community. We created a location that responds beautifully to the needs of people both in creating connection and meaning with non-Jews, and in creating a comfortable haven to be able to celebrate rituals and the excitement of being neighbors.”

Brown says, “Our congregation wanted a place where we can sit down, see old friends, and meet new ones. I think a lot of the design of our new building is to that purpose. We want people to feel the synagogue is an extension of their home. We want to be a place where people will feel they’ll run into people they know.”

Azriel says the new Temple Israel building—with its many sacred spaces and expanded social, educational and administrative facilities—provides the best opportunity to ensure the growth of Reform Judaism in Omaha.

Then there’s the interfaith engagement.

Azriel says, “The dream is to discover the image of God in all of us, and to see how that image is actu-ally the same. It’s not about symbols, it’s about being neighbors. We’re going to hopefully understand what is the meaning of walking into each other’s homes.”

The way Azriel sees it, Temple Israel’s participation in the Tri-Faith Initiative is “an outcome” of its longstanding inclusivity.

“I’m extremely happy about the relationship this congregation has with the non-Jewish community. I continued the tradition of rabbis who came before me in making sure solid bridges are built with those communities. This congregation has never been isolated. There was always a desire on my part and on the part of the congregation to continue those relationships.” •

“I’m extremely happy about the relationship

this congregation has with the non-Jewish

community. I continued the tradition of rabbis

who came before me in making sure solid

bridges are built with those communities.“

RABBI AZRIEL


Sterling Ridge

Congratulations Temple Israel

www.omahasymphony.org


Member Groups

STORY BY DAVID GOLBITZ • PHOTOS BY BILL SIZTMANN, CYNTHIA J. KOHLL PHOTOGRAPHY AND JUSTIN LIMOGES PHOTOGRAPHY

Temple Israel’s First Friday Band: Jon Bleicher, upright bass; George Walker, electric guitar;

Julie Sandene, piano; Tom Friedman, acoustic guitar.

OTYG members at 2012 groundbreaking ceremony. Zane Fletcher practices for shofar choir.

I N HIS BOOK, RELATIONAL JUDAISM, Omaha native Dr. Ron Wolfson writes:

“I learned to love being Jewish through relationships. My Jewish self was shaped by my relationships with family, with friends, with Jewish texts and ritual, with synagogue and community, with Jewish peoplehood, with Israel, with social justice work, and with God.”

Judaism, Wolfson writes, is “all about relationships,” and it is those relation-ships that form the core of what Temple Israel is now and can be in the future.

Temple Israel has always encouraged its members to come together outside of the worship service for a variety of reasons. With groups like the Caring Committee, Men of Reform Judaism (MRJ/Men’s Club), Omaha Temple Youth Group (OTYG), Outreach, and Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ/Sisterhood), Temple Israel members are able to create and maintain strong bonds with one another and with the community at large—bonds that, for some, can last a lifetime.

Temple Israel has a long history—cultivating leaders in all walks of life, men and women who participated in Youth Group or Sisterhood, who have gone on to become prominent figures on the national stage.

Hannah Budwig, 2013-14 OTYG President, says being a part of OTYG and NFTY are important to her not only because of the >


Member Groups

Member Groups

Building a Sense of Community

and Purpose While Promoting

Self-Discovery

< friends she’s made all over the country, but also because of the important social action work they do.

“It’s more important to me now because of the friends I made my freshman and sophomore years,” Budwig says. “So now the things I do, like when we go to regional events, you go because your best friends are going and you only get to see your best friends four times a year, but I also go for the programming. You really don’t realize how much it changes you or how much you can learn from it. It makes you feel bigger than yourself, the social action that you do. The fact that it’s a youth-led organization makes it stand out compared to other organizations. You’re doing things other people your age want to do, not things adults are doing for you. The programs are made for teens, by teens, which I think is very important to the group’s success.”

Temple Israel’s Outreach has been a valued resource for families for many years, providing educational programs addressing a variety of issues important to interfaith families, Jews by choice and everyone interested in adult Jewish learning.

“One of the most important groups that we have is Outreach,” says Rabbi Aryeh Azriel. “It is a wonderful portal for members that

are involved in interfaith relationships or marriages to be able to feel comfortable in this congregation. We’ve had numerous activities with Outreach, classes, workshops on different Jewish topics that enabled people from different religious backgrounds to come to the table and discuss things. We also engaged in teaching parents that are not Jewish how to raise Jewish kids.”

Temple Israel women have a group of their own, the Women of Reform Judaism, which is “the welcoming hand and heart of the congregation,” according to Past President Debbi Josephson.

“We are the hostesses of the community, trying to make everyone, congregant or stranger, feel welcome with greetings, making our surroundings lovely and peaceful and, of course, food!” she says.

WRJ would often welcome neighbors and church groups to Temple Israel, to educate them about the Jewish faith and celebrations, and Josephson looks forward to WRJ again taking a lead role in welcoming our new neighbors.

“I hope that WRJ will be in the forefront of welcoming all of our neighbors and explaining to them all about our new synagogue building and our Judaism as we practice


Member Groups

Rabbi Josh Brown, Todd Hutton,

Cantor Wendy Shermet

Aleia and Sophie Budwig, Susan

Rothholz, Hannah and Larry BudwigMace and Abby Hack

L’dor V’dorMazel Tov from the

Gilinsky Family

it,” Josephson says. “Welcoming the stranger is one of the greatest mitzvot. My hope is that WRJ and its members will be re-energized by our new setting to work toward achieving this mitzvah with enthusiasm and devotion.”

Josephson enjoys working with the women’s group not only because she is able to share her Judaism with new faces, but because by doing so she and the other women are able to “learn more about ourselves.”

And that is what is at the heart of the Temple Israel community, the opportunity to learn about yourself and others, to form lasting relationships.

As Dr. Wolfson writes:

“These relationships form the beating heart of my Jewish soul. It is because of them that I am a passionate and fully engaged Jew.” •


Member Groups

Mike Halsted and Silvia Roffman Harley Schrager and Terri Schrager Rachel Saag and Ari Rauhauser

Mazel TovTemple IsraelOn Your New Home

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E DUCATION HAS ALWAYS BEEN a cornerstone of Judaism. From Religious School through Bar or Bat Mitzvah, onward through adulthood, the opportunities

for Jewish learning are numerous, and Temple Israel prides itself on its dedication to offering lifelong learning to its members.

“Our commitment to our congregants is to provide vibrant and meaningful learning opportunities for people of all ages,” says Debbie Massarano, Temple Israel’s new Director of Lifelong Learning. “We plan to provide many ways in which to engage with text, ethics, art, values, and, yes, even politics. We want our congregants to grapple with what we believe and who we are as Jews. Our goal is to provide numerous portals through which you, the lifelong learner, can experi-ence your Judaism and connect with your community.”


Education

Jewish Education

Stewardship of Lifelong Learning Among

Temple Israel’s Top Priorities

STORY BY DAVID GOLBITZ • PHOTOS BY BILL SIZMANN

Rabbi Brown leads a discussion with Temple Israel youth.

Lifelong learning at Temple Israel begins with Religious School, which offers classes from pre-kindergarten through high school, and teaches our children Jewish his-tory and the Hebrew language while preparing them to be strong, independent-minded Jewish young adults.

Learning at Temple Israel kicks off with Consecration, a tra-dition that was developed by the Reform Movement to mark the beginning of a child’s formal Jewish education. Most children are consecrated as they begin kindergarten, during Simchat Torah, though children who join the Religious School in later grades are also invited to participate.

Jewish children celebrate their Bar or Bat Mitzvah at age 13. Traditionally, being a Bar/Bat Mitzvah meant that one was obligated to fulfill the mitzvot, or commandments. Today, boys and girls may mark this event by leading

services, reading from the Torah, or doing community service projects. The celebration of a Bar/Bat Mitzvah signifies that the young man or woman is beginning and will continue to function as an active and responsible Jew in the synagogue and in the wider Jewish community.

“We definitely upgraded the level of D’var Torah that the child is doing,” says Rabbi Aryeh Azriel. “All three clergy are involved with every Bar or Bat Mitzvah. We will never allow an assembly line to be created, where the clergy doesn’t know those B’nai Mitzvah kids.”

The next touchstone for Temple Israel students is Confirmation, which is observed at the end of 10th grade. This signifies the culmination of a student’s Jewish education, which takes place on or near the spring festival of Shavuot. In reaching this milestone, Temple Israel’s young adults stand symbolically at the foot of Mount Sinai where the Jewish people received the commandments. >


Education

Joan Cooper teaches students Alex Kugler, Harry Goldstrom,

Mendel Wright and Max Spizman in Grade 3.

Lily Pocras, Ellen Platt and Ruby Platt

Joel Sasson and Joe Scioli

Rabbi Brown leads a discussion with Temple Israel youth.

< Temple Israel also offers a curriculum for students in grades 11 and 12 taught by Cantor Wendy Shermet. These classes continue exploring the multitude of opportunities for Jewish growth that await the students as they look for-ward to their post-high school years.

“As adults, we understand that learning does not stop at the end of kindergarten, or 7th grade or college,” Massarano says. “Our learning is a continuous process throughout our lives. As a Reform Jewish community, we value lifelong Jewish learn-ing as well. Just like with secular education, there is no exit ramp after 7th grade. There is no exit ramp after 10th grade. Jewish learning is a lifelong endeavor.”

Aiding that endeavor is the Hermene Zweiback Center for Lifelong Jewish Learning, which was founded in 1999 in memory of a woman who was deeply committed to Jewish education.

“Whether it was cooking for a congrega-tional dinner, addressing envelopes for a Sisterhood mailing, chairing Temple Israel’s first Outreach Committee, or studying Torah with Rabbi Azriel, my mother delighted in the task,” Rosie Zweiback says. “For her, Judaism was a gift, a religious community that engaged the mind and the heart.”

Wednesday evenings at Temple Israel offer educational experiences for the whole family, with high school curricula taught by the clergy and adult education classes taught by a variety of guest lecturers. Visiting scholar lecturers have included: Rabbi Eric Yoffie, Past President of URJ; Anat Hoffman, Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Center; and Rabbi Douglas Kohn, author of the book, Broken Fragments: Jewish Experiences of Alzheimer’s Disease Through Diagnosis, Adaptation and Moving On. These classes cover a variety of topics, including how religion is presented in film, Middle Eastern history and Eastern religions.

“The power of learning is not necessar-ily in what is being learned but in how we apply it to our lives,” Massarano says.


Education

MAZEL TOV! TEMPLE ISRAEL DEDICATION

OCT2013

“As Jewish learners, the power of learning Torah is the way in which we live Torah in our daily lives. The power of learning the ethical teachings of our ancestors is the way in which it informs the profound and mundane decisions we make every day.”

Another example of Temple Israel’s commitment to lifelong learning is its Thursday morning adult study class, which has been meeting for more than 35 years. Congregants come together with the rabbis and cantor and learn about dif-ferent aspects of Jewish life and history. The class, Adult Study with the Clergy, covers topics as diverse as Israeli music and politics, and Jewish architecture and ethics.

Temple Israel also offers a 7-session Leadership Development class, which further prepares Jewish adults to become community leaders.

“The idea is to keep our members active at the Board of Trustees and committee levels,” says Jon Meyers, who leads the course along with Justin Cooper. The program is funded by the Jon Meyers Leadership Fund, set up by Jon’s parents, Sue and the late Dave Meyers.

“The course is an overview of what it means to be in a leadership role in our community,” Meyers says, “They learn about the synagogue, URJ, the greater Jewish community, non-Jewish community, and how to interact in a board setting.

“We want to make good leaders,” Meyers says. “We iden-tify people with potential and plug them in and keep the pipeline full of active, knowledgeable members.”

Congregants are also welcome to attend Torah Study on Saturday mornings prior to the Shabbat service, during which the clergy lead a discussion about that week’s Torah portion. And Adult B’nai Mitzvah classes are offered for members who either didn’t have a Bar/Bat Mitzvah as a child or who have converted to Judaism. These classes, taught by the clergy and Religious School teacher Na’ama Artzi, teach participants to read Hebrew and master common vocabulary, recite and understand the worship service, chant several lines of Torah, and become familiar with and be able to utilize trope. In addition, each class member will be able to discuss the Torah, the prophets and Nevi’im, and gain a deeper understanding of the liturgy including the history and meaning of the prayers. •


Education


Ritual and Prayer

STORY BY LEO ADAM BIGA • PHOTO BY BILL SITZMANN

M AKING REFORM JUDAISM RELEVANT to congregants “is the central question of our work here,” says Cantor Wendy Shermet.

“We spend a great deal of time talking about how are we and are we in fact relevant to people with very busy secular lives.”

Much focus is on making holiday observances and life cycle events intrinsic experiences that help members identify with Jewish life and what it means to be a Jew.

Azriel says, “With every life cycle event there is this question of, ‘How do we make it an integral part of the life of that family or that individual?’” >


Ritual and Prayer

Ritual and Prayer

Reform Judaism Aims to Infuse

New Life in Traditions

< Infusing new life into old rituals is one way of keeping things fresh.

Azriel says, “Many times we work on traditional vessels that maybe go back to antiquity and try to fill those old vessels with new meaning. That’s the Reform tradition. So there is a tradition of immersion in the mikvah, but we took this old vessel and brought a new meaning to people battling cancer, addiction, and other life challenges.”

Past President Phyllis Glazer says, “Rabbi Azriel, Rabbi Brown, Cantor Shermet and all who came before them have been with us at some of our most joyous moments. They have shared in those joys and helped us bear the burdens of the times of our greatest sorrow.”

Rabbi Josh Brown says the more members connect their lives to Temple Israel, the more opportunities they have to connect with their Jewishness. He says whenever members choose to participate in a celebration or ritual, it’s an opportunity to grow in their Jewish heritage and faith and to be part of a continuum.

“You’re connecting yourself not only to traditions that are generations, in some cases hundreds or thousands of years old, but you’re also connecting yourself to the future—to prayers your kids will say. There’s power in that connection.”

One of those traditions, Shabbat, encourages believers to look inward in order to grow in faith.

“Shabbat is this ability to disengage from the week that just passed and to re-energize the holy inside us for the week ahead,” says Azriel. “Shabbat offers an opportunity to go a few notches up in the spiritual-emotional content of our lives, and we can do it in the midst of family and friends or in a walk or opening a book or listening to music or coming here for a Shabbat service.”

Rabbi Azriel says living out Judaism must be a daily thing.


Ritual and Prayer

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As Temple Israel settles into its new home, Azriel reminds the congregation that “important as it is to build synagogues for Jews, it is even more important to build Jews for the synagogues. Synagogues are empty only when Jews are empty.”

The building will fill with memories, emotions and stories with each ritual and celebration held there. In September, Stacie Spies-Matz and Jay Matz had the honor and privilege of their daughter, Samantha Matz, being the first Bat Mitzvah in the new Temple.

“It is exciting and joyful to take those first steps into the future and into the new building,” says Spies-Matz. “We have observed many holidays, participated in Religious School, developed great friend-ships and had our children’s baby namings at Temple. Temple Israel contributes a big piece to how we raise our children.” •


Ritual and Prayer

“You’re connecting yourself

not only to traditions that are

generations, in some cases

hundreds or thousands of

years old, but you’re also

connecting yourself to the

future —to prayers your kids

will say. There’s power

in that connection.”

RABBI BROWN909 S. 107th Ave. • Omaha, NE 68114

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CongratulationsFromRegency Lodge


1871-2013

STORY BY JOE HACK • PHOTOS BY BILL SITZMANN

Temple Israel cookbook circa 1901. Wedding certificate, 1893.

Photo of Temple Israel at 72nd and Cass Street after May 7, 1975

tornado. Photo by Nebraska National Guard.

I N 1856, SIX YEARS before the onset of the Civil War and 11 years before

Nebraska’s statehood, two of the original founders of Temple Israel arrived in the young city of Omaha. These merchants‚ Meyer Hellman, who was the congregation’s first President, and Aaron Cahn, prospered and attracted >

Temple Israel History

“Remember the days

of old, consider the

years of ages past;

ask your father,

he will inform you,

your elders they

will tell you.”

DEUTERONOMY 32:7


5632-5774

Consecration class of 1970.

Cornerstone dedication, October 1953. Milton Livingstone applies

mortar as Morris Jacobs, Rabbi Brooks and Alfred Mayer look on.

< other Jews to the area. In 1871, the Congregation of Israel was established. Reverend Alexander Rosenspitz confirmed Temple Israel’s first class that year. Addie Gladstone briefly ran a Hebrew School. Rosenspitz soon left, followed by several itinerant rabbis. The congregation had 20 members in 1878.

After years of meeting in homes and public halls, in 1884 a Temple was built at 23rd and Harney streets. William Rosenau, newly ordained by Hebrew Union College (HUC), joined Temple Israel in 1889 and would serve the congregation well until 1892. The Temple Sisterhood was also established in 1886. The congregation joined the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in 1889.

Rabbi Rosenau championed progressive spiritual and liturgical practices. Wearing a skullcap was made optional and Hebrew study mandatory in Religious School under his tenure. Rosenau resigned in 1892 and was replaced by the then-youngest graduate of HUC, Leo Franklin. Unfortunately, Temple Israel struggled finan-cially during the recession of the 1890s and could not compensate Rabbi Franklin adequately. He left for Detroit in 1898. There were 188 children in the Hebrew School by the end of the decade.

Rabbi Abram Simon replaced Franklin and quickly endeared himself to the congregants with his erudition and warmth. Simon left for Washington, D.C., in 1904. Rabbi Frederick Cohn succeeded Rabbi Simon and oversaw Temple Israel’s move in 1908 to 29th and Jackson streets. Commonly referred to as the Park Avenue Synagogue, the Byzantine gold-domed building was unanimously acclaimed one of the most elegant in Omaha. News clippings credited it with “grace and beauty and at the same time a massive and impressive appearance.”

It is currently the home of St. John’s Greek Orthodox Church.

Documents from this time show a Temple secure in its Reform Jewish identity, but also comfortably assimilated and modern-ized. The 1901 Sisterhood cookbook featured recipes for shrimp salad and oyster patties. Thirteen years later, the Sisterhood immersed itself in the World War I effort, selling Liberty Bonds, marching in rallies, establishing a Red Cross auxiliary, and raising money for “Jewish War Sufferers.” An American flag hung in the sanctuary during WWI, indicating strong patriotic sentiment.

Rabbi Cohn was a community intellectual. He reviewed books and published columns in the Omaha World-Herald on relevant social and ethical issues. As the face of Temple Israel, Cohn was an exemplar of modernity and scholarship for the Jews of Omaha.

Temple Israel grew during the 1930s, necessitating the hiring of another rabbi to assist Cohn. Rabbi David Wice took the train to Omaha in 1933 to preach at High Holy Day services and served for seven years. Rabbi Cohn retired in 1934.


1871-2013

72nd and Cass streets circa 1954.

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In response to the events in Europe, religious observances changed. Hymns and Hebrew became a more integral part of worship services. In 1937, Charles Rosenstock became the first Bar Mitzvah since 1880. Rabbi Arthur Lelyveld, Wice’s successor, officiated at the Bat Mitzvah of Barbara Trustin Taxman in 1943, the first Bat Mitzvah performed at Temple Israel. Rabbi Lou Silberman replaced him in 1945.

As the Park Avenue building fell into disrepair and the Jewish population moved westward, the 300-family congrega-tion moved into a new building on Cass Street in 1954.

In the process, Temple Israel hired a young, energetic rabbi, Sidney Brooks, who saw the congregation through this period of transition. He would become Temple Israel’s longest-tenured rabbi, serving 32 years, and he gained national prominence within the Reform Movement.

Temple Israel celebrated its centennial in 1971 with much fanfare. Four years later, a tornado decimated the building, trapping Rabbi Brooks, his wife Jane and 15 con-firmation students inside. Fortunately, no one was injured, although Temple Israel had to hold services at the Jewish Community Center for a year while its home was rebuilt.

To aid those displaced by the tornado, Brooks founded Together Inc. with several other Omaha clergymen. Today, Together Inc. still serves Omaha’s homeless and is a lasting testament to Brooks’ legacy.

Rabbi Brooks retired in 1985 after 33 years of service. Rabbi Stephan Barack held the pulpit until 1988 when Rabbi Aryeh Azriel became Senior Rabbi. Under Rabbi Azriel’s leader-ship, Temple Israel continued to grow, reaching 780 families in 1996. Rabbi Azriel is well-loved for his warm pastoral care and widely recognized for his social justice work.

In 2010, Temple Israel purchased 14 acres in a 35-acre Omaha Tri-Faith Initiative project at Sterling Ridge at 132nd and Pacific streets. On August 25, 2013, congregants led a Torah March from the Cass Street synagogue to the congregation’s new home.

Rabbi Azriel announced, “Into the new Temple we will bring all the wisdom, values and traditions of the past while continuing to dream, create and transform new concepts and tools to address the needs and expectations of our community and the community at large. The deepening of our learning, the works of justice, and the spiritual yearning of our souls will be at the core of our activities.” •


5632-5774

Jay Noddle, PresideNt Mike silverMaN, Ceo

Carl riekes, PresideNt howard ePsteiN, exeCutive direCtor

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A Tradition of Progressivism

23rd and Harney Street Temple, 1884-1908

F ROM THE BEGINNING, TEMPLE Israel’s members have displayed

generally progressive behavior, most notably through their incredible willingness to collaborate with people of different religions and races. The Meyers, a Jewish family who immigrated to Omaha in the 1860s, were instrumental in founding what would >



Praying With Your Feet

For Decades, Temple Israel Congregates

Have Worked for Interfaith Cooperation and

Social Justice

STORY BY JOE HACK • PHOTOS BY BILL SITZMANN

< become Temple Israel. The youngest of four brothers, Julius Meyer made his business exclusively trading with American Indians. In fact, Meyer was so well respected by the Native tribes that he was christened “Box-Ka-Re-Sha-Hash-Ta-Ka” by the Pawnee, which means, “Curly-haired white chief with one tongue.”

Temple Israel’s rabbis have been as willing to challenge the social status quo as they have the religious one. Rabbi Frederick Cohn was an especially effective agent of social change and proponent of progressive ideals. In 1928, 35 years before the advent of the Civil Rights Movement, Cohn lectured on the importance of interracial cooperation. Rabbi Cohn also organized rallies against Hitler at a time when far too many were silent.

In response to the political unrest in Europe in the ‘30s, Temple Israel founded the Institute for Christian Clergy in 1938 to promote greater understanding between Jews and Christians. It continues to this day. To honor Rabbi Sidney Brooks’s leadership of this program, the congregation renamed it Rabbi Sidney H. and Jane Brooks Institute for Clergy and Educators.

Arthur Lelyveld, Temple Israel’s sixth rabbi, was an avowed pacifist who protested World War II, causing unease in the congregation. Rabbi Lelyveld went on to join the Zionist Organization of America and subsequently became prominent in the Civil Rights Movement, marching during the Freedom Summer of 1964 and sustaining a concussion after being beaten with a tire iron at a march in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

During his long tenure, Rabbi Sidney Brooks upheld the pro-gressive tradition at Temple Israel, giving sermons on the My Lai Massacre, the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Vietnam War. He was a strong proponent of wom-en’s reproductive rights and served on the board of Planned Parenthood. Together Inc., the organization Rabbi Brooks founded with Omaha Christian clergymen, is still working to alleviate poverty by providing services to the needy.

Rabbi Aryeh Azriel has overseen many interfaith social action projects during his tenure.

“From the Food Bank to Habitat for Humanity, soup kitchens and homeless shelters, Black-Jewish Seder and Tri-Faith Seder, Thanksgiving services and a Garden for Hope—so many moments of good work in our community,” Rabbi Azriel says. “Trying to understand the heart and the life of ‘the other’ is of great importance to our community.”

Rabbi Azriel received the Martin Luther King, Jr. “Living the Dream” Award from the city of Omaha in 1997 for his efforts to reduce racial inequality and, more than 10 years ago, became one of the few clergymen in Nebraska to officiate at same-sex commitment ceremonies.

“When confronted with this long and illustrious history of interfaith cooperation and progressivism, Temple Israel’s decision to partner with the American Episcopal Diocese and the American Institute of Islamic Studies and Culture in the Tri-Faith Initiative of Omaha makes perfect sense,” Rabbi Azriel says. “When our congregation forms interfaith partnerships and pushes boundaries, we do social good. By cooperating, we harness the power of three congregations, proving that Jews, Christians and Muslims can work harmoniously together to make Omaha, and the world, a more just and peaceful place.” •



“When our congregation forms interfaith

partnerships and pushes boundaries, we

do social good. By cooperating, we harness

the power of three congregations, proving

that Jews, Christians and Muslims can work

harmoniously together to make Omaha, and the

world, a more just and peaceful place.”

RABBI AZRIEL

Mazel Tov to Temple Israel on the dedication of your new home

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Holly and Steve AbrahamsonBerta AckersonBettie and John AdamsLiz AdkissonBernice AdlerPaula and Larry AlbertJoel AlexanderLeon AlexanderDoris and Harry AlloyDaryn and Cassius AlmeidaDebbie AlpertSophie AmbroseMagda Peck and Jim AndersonBrenda and Barton ArnoldPhyllis AronsonJoyce AshleyStacey and Brett AtlasBarbara AultElyce and Aryeh AzrielBrigitte and Kenny BainesJudy and Jack BakerSonya and Bob BakerAmber and Tom BakerShelly and Arnie BanSharon and Bo BargasAaron BattJanice and Bob BattValerie BattMona Jones and Ron BeachBob BeberGinny and Marsh BeckerJim BelgradeRobyn BelgradeBetsy and Ben BelmontJenn Diaz and David BenderStephanie and Matt BenedaLori BennettJay BentonMillie and Harold BernsteinLee and Anita BernsteinRose and Stu BernsteinSusan BernardJoanie and Terry BernsteinMary and Tom BernsteinMary Wampler and Phil BiermanMarvin BittnerDenise and Chris BlakeStacie and Bob BleicherSusan Bos and Jacob Bleicher

Ellie and Jon BleicherSandy and Joel BleicherAl BlochCarol and Steve BlochMatt BlodgettRebecca and Brent BloomErlinda and Sol BloomSusie and Irv BlumkinFran BlumkinChris and Matt BlumkinRachel BlumChris and Ron BlumkinAmanda and Ryan BlumkinAndrew BoehmClaudia BoehmEsther and Bernie BogdanoffPaula and Matt BoggustJoe BoinLinda and Joe BordySteven BraunMardee BrechwaldBarbara and Steve BrehmerBecki BrennerMarge and Jim BreselShirley and Al BrodyMarc BrodkeyPete BrodkeyBeth and Ron BrodkeyJudy and Shelly BrodskySandy and Sherm BrodkeyStacie BrodkeyFred BromleyJane BrooksMiriam BrooksSpencer BrooksteinCandice and Erik JohnsonMikal (Michael) BrotnovJoi and Colin BrownCarrie and Josh BrownLisa BrunkhorstLarry BudwigRon BudwigBruce BuehlerScott BurgerHelen and John BurnsMolline and Fritz CassmanSteve ChasenLetaRae ChernissVicki and Jerry Chesen

Toni and Jon ChesterElizabeth and Steven ChristensenCathy and Bill ChristensenKimara and Kevin ClarkSaundra and Kevin ClarkeAnne and Alan CohenMarcia and Jack CohenMarc CohenMarty CohenMarla and Bob CohenJoyce and Sheldon CohenDoris CohnShelley Smith and Ed CohnSusie and Marvin CohnJessica and Shane CohnLinda and Steve CohnBabe CohnSandi ColeJulie and Jeff CooperSusie and Jeff CooperJoan and Justin CooperFran and Mickey CorenAmy CottonAlison Freifeld and Ken CowanSuzy and Ian CrabbBrenda CroesDarlene CzajaDon’L DaceyJaney and Jerry DannSteve DanonBetsy and Art DavidsonJuanita and Doug DavidsonHenry DavisSylvia DavisKaren and Manuel DelgadilloAlan DePortePam and Dennis DePorteDeb and Jim DoddAvery Mazor and Rob DortonTamara and Jared DraegerRachel and Gil DysicoLeslie and Brian EadesJan EgermayerTeresa and Lew EirinbergBob EisenbergNovember and Steve EisenbergPenny EndelmanLois EndelmanRand Engel

Trudie and Richard EngelMira EnglerLisa and Gary EpsteinNancy and Gary EpsteinLaurie and Jeff EpsteinInalou Raznick and Mel EpsteinSandy and Paul EpsteinPam EpsteinRuth and Joe ErmanJill and Mike ErmanVeronica FadkeCarol FarberJudy and Jim FarberMimi Rogers-Farkas and Scott FarkasSam FedmanNancy FeidmanTed FeidmanHeather FeiersteinFíona and Seth FeiersteinJudy FeiginJessica and Jamie FeinsteinToby FellmanDarlynn and Tom FellmanErika FeltMary and Whitney FererSally and Paul FineCarrie and Steven FingoldLois and Joel FinkelDebbie and Doug FinnicumJan and Steve FischerNaomi and Amanda Fisher LeiserowitzNikki FlatowiczClaire and Pierre FlatowiczRachel FlatowiczAnn FleishmanHillary and John FletcherJim FolsomNora Sarvetnick and Howard FoxShelly and Rick FoxAlan FredricksArlene and Dave FredricksJennifer Rody and Jason FredricksJill and Jeff FredricksEllen FreemanJohn and Karen FreemanJoanne and Jerry FreemanRobyn and Bob FreemanJamie and Ted FriedlandBecky Fuehrer and Jeff Friedman


Congregation of Temple Israel

To the congregation of Temple Israel and all who helped make the dream a reality

Yasher Koach

Susi Amendola and Josh FriedmanLois FriedmanNorma and Marshall FriedMerriam FriedmanMitzi FriedmanJoan and Michael FriedmanCindy and Morris FriedmanNancy FriedlandFrances and Sam FriedDebbie and Scott FriedmanSteve FriedmanSuzanne and Tom FriedmanBarbara FrohmanMarlen FrostMelany FullenkampMarcy GallnerKim GallnerLinda and Harry GatesJeanette GaudreauJulie and Andy GelbmanHymie GendlerTami Field and Larry GendlerGary GerberPaul GerberSarah and Dan GilbertKatherine Finnegan and David GilinskyChickie GilinskyPatty and Kevin GilinskyDee and Larry GilinskyBeth Gaynes GinsbergJulie and Bennett GinsbergCheri and Larry GinsburgElvira Stepanova and Mike GinsburgLarisa and Arkadiy GinzburgJennifer and Larry GittelmanJan and Mort GlassJordana and Jim GlazerJennifer and John GlazerPhyllis and Dick GlazerDavid GolbitzBetty GoldstromYesenia and Brad GoldstromCindy and Bruce GoldbergJudi and David GoldsteinWendy and David GoldbergDora GoldstromBarb and Gary GoldsteinJill and Joe GoldsteinCarol and Larry Goldstrom

Mark GoldstromCarol and Manny GoldbergJennine and Marv GoldbergMike GoldsteinDana and Eddie GonzalesDanny GoodmanJune GoodbinderJennifer and Scott GoodmanAndie Gordman and Dan FitzgeraldDanielle and Jeff GordmanBridget and Kip GordmanElly and Bob GordmanSteve GottliebMelinda and John GrahamNancy and Don GreenbergHerman GreenwaldRosalie GreenspanStephanie and Barry GrossmanJerry GrossBetty GrossmanRoberta Wilhelm and Vic GutmanRosie Zweiback and Mace HackDebbie and Pat HaleMendy and Mike HalstedRenee HandlemanJan HarrisMarti and Jim HarrisJulie HartmanFlorence HaussRobin HellwigKathy HelmShari HessBetsy Baker and Richard HeymanBecky HinksCookie and Jerry HobermanJennifer HobermanKerry and Mike HollstGail HolmesNancy HornsteinAngela and Paul HornerChris Dunlap and Ed HorwitzJeff and Sarah HowardJayne and Todd HuttonJill and George IdelmanSheri and Steve IdelmanMarilyn IversRonnie and Art JacobsonNancy and David JacobsonEileen and Leonard Jacobson

Mark JacobsonLoye and Stan JaegerKaren JavitchLynne and Patrick JensenSusan JodisSheryn and Arnold JoffeLauren Brown-Jorgensen and Kelson JorgensenJudy and Keith JosephsonDebbi and Larry JosephsonSharon and Les JosephAnn KaimanJudy and Herb KaimanHoward KaimanSylvia and Jerry KaimanLeo KamisarBernice KaplanDavid KaplanSally and Gary KaplanBob KaplanFrankie and Sandy KasinRenee and Sandy KasnerEdythe KassSharlene KassLorrie and Gary KatelmanJosh KatelmanJeanne and John KatelmanMyllee KatelmanSue and Rick KatelmanShelli KatelmanFran and Stan KatelmanEsther and Bob KatlemanLester Katz and Jack BeckerMaynard KatzmanNan KatzAmy Filler-Katz and Dick KatzDana and Michael KaufmanJeff KavichAndie and Larry KavichRenee and Louie KazorMichelle and Stu KazorLeAnn and Larry KelbergSuzan and Jay KenikGail and Tom KenkelCat KingHedy and Marvin KirkeNikki and Adam KirshenbaumJoe KirshenbaumJoan and Cal Kirshenbaum

Kevee KirshenbaumJenn Tompkins Kirshenbaum and Matt KirshenbaumKate and Tom KirshenbaumJo KizlinAlice and Jon KleinGalina and Gregory KoganLina KoganBrigitte and Alan KohllIvy KohllGail and Jerry KohllJennifer and Brandon KoomGeorgine and Larry KoomJoan Tigges and Marc KraftNatasha KraftBev KrasneEdythe KrasneRoxanne and Todd KrasnoBarbara and Barry KricsfeldAngie and Stan KriegerTraci and Lance KuglerLeslie KullyConnie and Bob KullyDenise and Tim KullyBarbara and Marshall KushnerLaura KutlerSandy and Stuart KutlerLina LanderPauline LandmanAlan LangnasSharon Comisar-Langdon and Randy LangdonBarb LashinskyKathy Beauchaine and Jeff LaudinNancy and Mike LazerSandy and John LehrJoanie and Marty LehrSusan LehrBobbi and Mike LeibowitzBonni and Martin LeiserowitzLisa and Julian LeopoldKaren and Bob LeppBobette and Jay LernerBarb and Cliff LevitanDavid LevinCorinne and Hugh LevinJodi and Mike LevineBonnie and Steve LevingerLisa and Denny Lewis

ם: כנתי בתוכ ועשו לי מקדש וש“Make for Me a Temple and I shall dwell amongst them.”

May your new space be a place of Torah and Mitzvot and a home for the

Divine Presence and the Jewish People.



Rocky LewisEric LinderAshley Lyles and Philip LindsayBonnie LondonFritzi LuefschuetzJan and Blake LundCarolyn and Bernie MagidSally and Ed MalashockNorma and Bob MalashockBarbara and Stan MalashockMarilyn and Judd ManvitzWendy and Todd ManvitzDan MarburgDeb MarburgJudy and Jerry MarburgHoward MarcusJoan MarcusIlka Oberst and Gary MarshallHoward MartinLeon MartinJulie and Mark MartinSandy MartinLauren and Alex MaskinStacie Spies-Matz and Jay MatzKathy and John McGauvranMaurie MeichesBernie MeyersGerald MeyerBeth and James MeyersTina and Joe MeyersDenise and Jon MeyersKat MeyersonJenny and Scott MeyersonSue MeyersJamie and Troy MeyersonRenee MicklinRhoda and Pete MilderEmily MilderGayle MilderJerry MilderDucky and Mike MilderEllie and Paul MilitzerSue and David MillwardLori and Michael MillerJennifer and Paul MillerMiriam MisleSuzi and Mike MogilFord Mommaerts-BrownePam and Henry MonskyLisa and Dino MontemaranoMiriam and Don MoranAnn and Gordon MoshmanMilt MoskovitzBarbara MuetingKate and Joe MurphyMary-Beth and Bruce MuskinLisa and Rob MyersRandi and Joe NanfitoLucille NearenbergLee and Howard NeedelmanMillie NeedelmanMaria and Steve NeesmanJeanie NeffJennifer Wright and Paul NelsonPhyllis and Bob NewmanKarli and Jody NewmanSharee and Murray NewmanKim and Jay Noddle

Nancy NoddleSandy and Alan NoggPatty and Tony NoggJaime and Brian NoggKelly and Jeff NoggNancy NoggBabe NoggAnn and David NoodellMaxine and Jack NoodellLeslie NormanSusie and Mike NortonDominique O’ConnorKelly and Adam OlesAshley and Alex OropezaRuth OruchAnn and Don OsborneClaire and Rob OsborneGigi OstenNadine OstrowKaren OylerElaina OzeroffAllison Latenser and Lou PachmanJoyce PalmDoris ParkerMargo ParsowAlla PashchenkoKlara and Gary PaskarRita PaskowitzFefe PasserElla PatkovskyMarcy and Joel PattonLinda PattonHelene PaulinSean PekarskyRonnie and Stan PerlmeterVicki PerlmeterBeth and Jay PerryCynthia and Joshua PerskyGerri PhillipsJoan and Rick PhillipsAnn and Harvey PickelGilda PieckRose PitlorKim and Matt PlaczekEllen and Jeff PlattBarb and Mike PlattSuzanne and Hap PocrasLawrence PollackKini and Don PolskySharon and George QuittnerAmy and Paul RabinovitzLouise and Benie RadlerGretchen and David RadlerWendy and Adam RaffelShayna and Matt RayEmily and Nick RayLinda and Steve RedlerLorraine ReissWendy and Rob ReissMiles and Eileen RemerDon RiceIris and Marty RicksJoan and Albert RiederMerilee RimermanJane and Harlan RipsDenis RobertsKimberly and Andrew RobinsonJulie and Arnold Robinson

Betti and Dick RobinsonStacey and Jonathan RockmanJudy and Buddy RoffmanCarol RoffmanSilvia RoffmanYvette RoffmanMarcee and Chuck RogersAriella and Joseph RohrAdam RosenEli RosenbergJerry RosenblattJoanie RosenJohn RosenMargo RosenBrenda and Rich RosenblattJulie and Thor RosenquistToni RosenCharney and Jerry RosinskySam RosinskyPeggy and Lee RossSusan RothholzTeresa Kramer-Ruback and Andy RubackMarcy RubackBetty RubinErica and Michael ParksSherrie and David SaagJacque and George SacksMonica SacksJamie and Scott SacksLinda and Rodney SadofskySheila SadofskyMark SafersteinDebbie SalomonRosalie and Ernie SaltzmanLynn and Fred SalzingerBetty SanfordLise and Aaron SassonJane and Russ SawyerEllen SaylanRosalie SaylanLisa ScheetKaren SchliefertCynthia SchneiderJerry SchneiderJan and Les SchneidermanRachel and Michael SchneiderHeidi and Scott SchneidermanSarah SchondelmeyerCindy SchreiberBeth and Harley SchragerLevi Jacob SchragerLillian SchragerAnne York and Jeff SchragerJeff SchrierTerri SchragerLaura and Rick SchragerFelicia and Stan SchrierDebbie SchwartzJeff SchweidAnthony and Andee ScioliTanya and Craig SeinaBev and Millard SeldinSarah and Ted SeldinNoni and Hal SelnerAnne and Bruce ShackmanSuzy and Norm SheldonUsha and Dan Sherman

Debra ShermanJo ShermanClaudia and Marc ShermanRuth and Marc ShermanShannon and Mitchel ShermanPhyllis ShermanWendy Shermet and Len BurrellLinda and Howard ShrierAndrea and Mike SiegelSissy SilberMichala and Adam SilvermanHelene SilversteinSusie and Jim SilvermanMimi and Mike SilvermanPaul SilversteinAnne and Alan SimonStacy and Bruce SimonEve and Fred SimonKim and Jim SimonJoie SimonKathy SimonMichael SimonRon SimonsTonya and Rob SimonsBetiana and Todd SimonDebbie Meiches-Simpson and Jim SimpsonHarriet SingerMark SingerSuzanne SingerMary and John SirefKathy and Larry SirefSteve SirefRicki and Jeff SkogMartha and David SlosburgEllen and Dick SlosburgBud SlosburgBeth and Mitchell SlovutJanet and Jerry SluskyLesley and Jeff SlutzkyDebi and Jeff SmedlundShirlee and Norm SmeerinTodd SmithSharon SobelHelen SoirefCarmen SoltisSuzie and Ray SombergBeatrice SommerPenny and Jim SophirSherm SperlingJay SpiegelmanBeth SpizmanDorothy SpizmanMeagan and Samuel SpomerJim SpoonerCynthia SteinKim and David SternSusan SternMarie and David StevensDebbie and Steve StielSara and Asher StollerCraig StollCindy and Brian StonekingDorothy StraussRebecca and Rory SudbeckChuck SullivanLouri SullivanDavid Swensen



Maynard TatelmanBillie and Mel TatelmanSherry and Jeff TaxmanBarbara TaxmanAlain TaylonMary Ann and Charlie TaylonSarah TeetzelMichele and John TerryEd ThompsonSonia and Alan TippSheila and Raimond TompsDanielle and Kevin TornkvistMaya Wertheimer and Alexander TrubnikovTevee and Bernie TurkelWendy and John VannJudy VannLeslie VannTom VannJoodi and Norman VeitzerJody VinciBennett WagnerNatha and John WaldbaumPatsy WallaceBeth and Mike WaltsMarilyn and Marty WarrenBill WaxJan and Phil WayneDana and David WearBabs and Mike WeinbergMarc WeinstinePhyllis WeinbergShirley WeinsteinAnne and Arnie WeitzLeora Azriel and Matt WernerBarb and Stan WidmanAndrew WigodskyTereza WigodskyAllyson and Chris WilczewskiAndi WillenskyLaura and Bryan WineNorm and Lois WineShelly and Abe WisniaJulie and Bernie WolfSara and Doug WolfsonHanne WolfBarbara and Jerry WolpaVicki and Steve WolpaTony WolpaAnette and Jeremy WrightDorothy YaffeAnnette and Irv YaffeSarah and Adam YaleDon YaleJohn YoungMary Kay YoungStephanie and David YudelsonTerri and Dick ZachariaAmee and Ted ZetzmanInna ZevakinaLinda and Todd ZimmermanMort ZuberAubrey and Steven ZuberDebbi and Speedy ZweibackJudy Zweiback and Allen RossAmy and Tim Zweiback

Membership list as of Friday, September 13, 2013.


Congregation

Bob Freeman, Troy Meyerson & Fraser Stryker PC LLO

Proudly Congratulate

• • • On Its New Home • • •

We appreciate the opportunity to have advised you on this exciting journey.

Mazel Tov!

www.FraserStryker.com

The Congregation of Temple Israel

snbconnect.com . 402-344-7300

This time. This hour. This moment.

This PLACE.Our congratulations on your beautiful new Temple Israel synagogue.

SecurityNational_PB1013.indd 1 9/5/13 8:22 AM

Rabbis1871 Reverend Alexander Rosenspitz1873-1874 Reverend Hertzman

(High Holy Day Services)1878 Reverend David Stern1883 Reverend H. Saft1883-1885 Reverend George E. Harfeld1885-1889 Reverend N.I. Benson1889-1892 William Rosenau1892-1898 Leo Franklin1898-1903 Abram Simon1904-1934 Frederick Cohn 1933-1941 David H. Wice1942-1944 Arthur J. Lelyveld1945-1951 Lou H. Silberman1952-1985 Sidney H. Brooks1985-1988 Stephan F. Barack1988- Aryeh Azriel

Assistant/Associate Rabbis1965-1968 Lawrence Rubenstein 1971-1983 Barry Weinstein 1983-1984 Stephan Barack 1992-1994 Dan Fink 1994-2002 Debbie Stiel 2002-2006 Craig Marantz 2006-2012 Eric Linder 2012- Josh Brown Cantors1961–1972 Manfred F. Kuttner1977-1980 Gail Karp1980-1990 Harold Firestone1990-1994 Karen Webber-Gilat1994-1995 Michael Yablonski1995-1998 Erik Contzius1998-2001 Jennifer Blum2001- Wendy Shermet

Executive Directors1954-1982 Wilma Reeves1982-2004 Dorothy Spizman 2003-2004 Michelle Shkolnick 2004- Dennis DePorte

Directors of Education1985-1987 Jane West1987-1999 Ann Kibel Schwartz1999-2005 Joan Cooper

(Lower School) 1999-2009 Elyce Azriel

(Upper School)2009-2012 Lori Bennett2012-2013 Ariella Lowensohn2013- Debbie Massarano

Program Directors1998-2001 Iris Ricks2001-2008 Rosie Zweiback2008- Wendy Goldberg

Presidents1871-1873 Bernard Gladstone1873-1877 M. Hellman1877-1878 M. Goldsmith1878-1883 L. Brash1883-1885 Emmanuel Simon1885-1889 Issac Oberfelder1889-1891 Meyer Hellman1891-1899 Samuel Katz1899-1907 Morris Levy1907-1912 Samuel Katz1912-1914 N.A. Spiesberger1914-1916 Samson Frank1916-1918 Charles Elgutter1918-1920 William Holzman1920-1922 Isador Zeigler1922-1924 Jay Benjamin Katz1924-1926 Harry Rosenfeld1926-1930 Harry Rosenthal1930-1932 David Rosenstock1932-1934 Abe Goldstein1934-1936 Samuel Joel Leon1936-1938 Harry Wilinsky1938-1940 David Goldman1940-1942 Morris E. Jacobs1942--1944 Milton Abrahams1944-1946 Louis Somberg1946-1948 Jack W. Marer1948-1950 Paul Blotcky1950-1952 Louis E. Lipp1952-1954 Alfred S. Mayer1954-1956 Milton S. Livingston1956-1958 A.H. Brodkey1958-1960 Harold P. Farber1960-1962 Lazar Kaplan1962-1964 Millard H. Krasne1964-1966 Warner B. Frohman1966-1968 David E. Beber1968-1970 Morris J. Lipp1970-1972 Stanley J. Slosburg1972-1974 Abe Katelman1974-1976 Stanley Perlmeter1976-1977 Sydney Osten1977-1979 Joan Lehr1979-1981 Theodore Seldin1981-1983 Michael Erman1983-1984 Blaine Roffman1984-1985 Phyllis Glazer1985-1987 Martin Lehr1987-1988 Murray Newman1987-1989 Melvin Epstein

1989-1991 James Farber1991-1993 Jerome Milder1993-1995 Robert Freeman1995-1997 Jane Rips1997-1999 Larry Roffman1999-2001 Paul Epstein2001-2003 Michael Walts2003-2005 Gary Kaplan2005-2007 Wendy Goldberg2007-2009 Jon Meyers2009 Jan Schneiderman2009-2012 John Lehr2012- Sally Kaplan

WRJ/Sisterhood Presidents1903 Mrs. Ferdinand Adler1904 Mrs. Albert Cahn1905 Mrs. C. Brandeis1906 Mrs. Bertha Klein1907 Mrs. Mortiz Meyer1908 Mrs. Harry May1911 Mrs. H. J. Abrahams1912 Mrs. Louis M. Cohn1914 Mrs. Sam Frank1917 Mrs. Sam Katz1920 Mrs. Nathan Mantel1926 Mrs. Harry Rosenfeld1928 Mrs. Izy Rosenthal1930 Mrs. Nathan Mantel1932 Mrs. M. L. Cohn1933 Mrs. Carl Furth1934 Mrs. Max Holzman1936 Mrs. Ben Silver1938 Mrs. Bernhardt Wolf1940 Mrs. Sam Robinson

(Mrs. David Feder)1942 Mrs. Henry Monsky1944 Mrs. Clarence Bergman1946 Mrs. Ben Shapiro1948 Mrs. Milton Mayper1950 Mrs. Harry Trustin1952 Mrs. Morton Hiller1954 Mrs. Bernhardt Wolf1956 Mrs. Edward Gilbert

(Mrs. Horace Rosenblum)1958 Mrs. Edward Levinson

(Mrs. Ernest Kling)1960 Mrs. Robert Cohn1962 Mrs. I. M. Liberman1964 Mrs. David Beber1966 Mrs. Maurice Aresty1968 Mrs. Stanley Perlmeter1970 Mrs. David Beber1972 Joan Lehr (Mrs. Martin)1974 Shirley Greenberg (Mrs. Avrum)1976 Marilyn Warren (Mrs. Martin)1978 Hermene Zweiback (Mrs. Eugene)


Leadership

1980 Joie Simon (Mrs. Ray)1982 Noni Selner (Mrs. Harold)1984 Sandy Nogg (Mrs. Alan)1986 Dora Goldstrom1989 Debbi Josephson (Mrs. Larry)1991 Debbie Friedman (Mrs. Scott)1992 Sandy Passer (Mrs. Jeffrey)1994 Sally Zipursky (Mrs. Jim)1995 Jeanne Angalet (Mrs. Stevan)1997 Diane Graul (Mrs. Lonnie)1999 Wendy Goldberg (Mrs. David)2001 Stacey Rockman (Mrs. Jonathan)2003 Nancy Nogg2005 Cindy Goldberg (Mrs. Bruce)2007 Danielle Gordman (Mrs. Jeff)2009 Susie Norton (Mrs. Mike)2011 Mimi Silverman (Mrs. Mike)2013 Stacie Brodkey and Dana

Gonzales (Mrs. Eddie)

MRJ/Men’s Club Presidents1977-1979 Steve Dloogoff1979-1981 Phill Spizman1981-1983 Bill Wasserkrug1983-1985 Hal Selner1985-1987 Mel Epstein1987-1988 Jeff Smedlund1989-1991 Dennis DePorte1992-1994 Todd Manvitz1994-1995 Alan Fredericks1996-1998 Jim Clark1998-2000 Marc Delman2000-2002 Steve Danon2002 Harry Gates2008-2009 Adam Kirshenbaum2009-2010 Barry Streit2011- Dan Marburg

Omaha Temple Youth Group Presidents1977 David Peebler1978 Beth Seldin1979 Anny Neff1980 Todd Simon1981 Tracey Simon1982 Susan Simon1983 David Spizman1984 Jenni Barack1985 Debbie Barack1986 Randi Epstein1987 Keri Saltzman1988 Robyn Epstein1989 Amy Perlmeter1990 Lindsey Taxman1991 Stephanie DePorte1992 Michele Kurs1993 Josh Katelman1994 Brian Siff1995 Katie Kaplan1996 Amy Willensky1997 Jen Gates1998 Whitney Taxman2000 Shayna Denny and

Ally Freeman2001 Steve Sternberg2002 Allie Willensky2003 Janet Baack2004 Jacob Bleicher2005 Caroline Terry2006 Jacquelyn Neesman2007 Caroline Terry2008 Susan Freeman2009 Haley Burns2010 Jordan Jensen2011 Jordan Jensen 2012 Hannah Perry 2013 Hannah Budwig

Pillars of Temple Israel1999 Ajon F. Farber

Dedicated builder; lifelong champion for the Temple; leader with great love and humor

1999 Carol Lipsey Farber

Devoted guardian of our funds; tireless supporter of our youth; blessed with boundless enthusiasm and love of our congregation

2003 Silvia Greene Roffman A lifetime of service above and beyond; your passion for learn-ing; and your undying support

2004 Jane Brooks Our beloved Matriarch…Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Champion for justice and understanding, leader, and friend since 1952

2005 Robert Freeman Our trusted attorney, negoti-ator, peace maker, confidant and champion. A mentor and advisor to presidents, rabbis and staff since 1988.

Harriett Sperling Caring Awards1995 Sandy Nogg1997 Earl Katz1999 Marilyn Mellen2001 Shelly Fox2005 Sheila Tomps2007 Lisa Epstein2008 Judy Josephson2012 Wendy Vann


Leadership

RATIGAN-SCHOTTLER 201 SOUTH 2nd STREET BEATRICE, NE 800-383-1000

Ratigan-Schottler is honored to have been chosen to provide the solid oak pews, chapel chairs and furniture for Temple Israel’s beautiful new Omaha facility.

Visit www.ratiganschottler.com to learn more about our design services as well as our high quality furniture.

Email us at [email protected].

temple israel dedication program 2013

Documents

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temple israel dedication

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